25 Things I Want To Say To So-Called “Aspiring” Writers

Writing is a technical skill. A craft. You can argue that storytelling is an art. You can argue that art emerges from good writing the way a dolphin riding a jet-ski emerges the longer you stare at a Magic Eye painting. But don’t get ahead of yourself, hoss. You still need to know how to communicate. You need to learn the laws of this maddening land. I’ve seen too many authors want to jump ahead of the skill and just start telling stories — you ever try to get ahead of your own skill level? I used to imagine pictures in my head and I’d try to paint them in watercolor and they’d end up looking like someone barfed up watery yogurt onto the canvas. I’d rail against this: WHY DON’T THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL? Uhh, because you don’t know how to actually paint, dumb-fuck. You cannot exert your talent unless you first have the skill to bolster that talent.

Love both your most recent comments. I’m not just tired of careless writing and lack of editing in much popular modern writing, I’m also a little saddened by the diminishing variety of our language – eg the jettisoning of useful words like ‘perhaps’ (for maybe) and ‘footpath’ for pavement etc. Too often it’s as if there’s only one word or expression left that everyone will accept. English is richer than that. So time spent on language is as helpful as time spent on structure.